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Question: There is official science and all sorts of other trends like New Age, psychedelic practices, shamanism, and so on. Science is supported by governments, but doesn’t interest the masses. Only a small group of people work in the field of science, “cooking” in the same pot, whereas millions of people are involved in the other practices. What can we do to prevent a similar rift when teaching the integral method so that not only scientists, but regular people with their interests, connect to this process?

Answer: I think that this is possible because both groups, the scientists and the so-called “shamanists,” have reached a dead end.

Of course, both boast great armies of followers who make money, careers, power, and fame in their respective fields. The same is true for philosophers. Philosophy has long outlived itself, and yet philosophy faculties continue to exist and thrive, defend dissertations, and issue academic degrees.

Generally speaking, all of them can be connected to integral education. We need to try to address all of them individually, in a way that’s convenient for them, and explain where evolution is taking humankind, the kind of society we find ourselves in. Society is integral, while man is individual. The opposition between man and society begets the crisis, which can lead us to highly undesirable consequences, and this needs to be explained to everybody: philosophers, psychologists, and shamanists alike.

Somewhat detached from all this are religious figures for whom it is taboo to keep contact with just about anyone. However, I think even they gradually will connect to the integral movement because the same theories of unity lie at the foundation of all religions, and this doesn’t contradict their worldview. At the very least, they will not be able to openly oppose the integral method.

Therefore, the first step is disseminating to people in all trends the knowledge of where we’ve come to. That’s on the one hand. On the other hand, we must independently develop a massive international institute where we can train people to explain and disseminate this idea, this method, throughout all the layers of the population, from small children to the very elderly.[81494]From a “Talk on Integral Upbringing” 5/24/12